Meanwhile, Boat Pattana Co Ltd, the company behind the Phuket Boat Lagoon projects, won a nomination for ‘Best Boutique Developer (Asia)’ among the 56 awards announced during a glittering ceremony at the Athenee Hotel in Bangkok on Nov 9.

Awardees came from 15 key property markets across the Asia-Pacific region, including an elite selection from Japan and Australia, who joined the prestigious awards programme for the very first time in its 13-year history. The awards, presented by Kohler, celebrated the new iconic developments in the region that champion green building, sustainability, value for money and innovation.

Hong Kong’s New World Development Co Ltd was hailed as Best Developer (Asia) by an independent jury comprising the head judges in each participating market.

“New World Development Company Limited impressed the judges with its diverse range of high-quality developments this year. The company has proven itself to be leader in a difficult and extremely competitive property market like Hong Kong,” said Thien Duong, Managing Director of Transform Architecture and the chairperson of the Grand Final.

“Although New World Development has a long-standing record of impressive projects, the judges commend the company for continuing to strive to set new standards, with exciting developments such as Mount Pavilia, Skypark and the Forest winning accolades,” he added, speaking on behalf of the judging panel.

The culminating event of the prestigious series that journeys throughout the year across the region featured country winners from Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

In addition, finalists from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Mongolia participated in the regional competition to be named the ‘Best in Asia’. Overall, there were 22 regional categories, including Best Boutique Developer (Asia), which went to SonKim Land Corporation of Vietnam.

The evening also introduced the new PropertyGuru Icon Award as one of the highest regional honours to be presented at the programme. One of Asia’s prominent and most active real estate billionaires, Filipino-Chinese tycoon Dr Andrew L. Tan, Chairman and CEO of Megaworld Corporation, who won the Philippines Real Estate Personality of the Year award in 2014, is the first-ever recipient of the honour.

Dr Tan has been chosen for leading his team to receive three consecutive Best Developer (Philippines) titles and being a champion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through Megaworld Foundation and Empire East Cares. Dr Tan accepted the award via a video message.

Other top country awardees of the year were Jiguur Grand Group (Best Developer, Mongolia) and China Vanke Co Ltd (Best Developer, Mainland China).

The top markets that won regional awards were Thailand (collecting seven ‘Best in Asia’ accolades) and Vietnam (5), followed by the Philippines (3), Indonesia (3) and Singapore (2). Sri Lanka, China and Hong Kong took home one regional award each.

Nearly 500 guests from around the region joined the exclusive ceremony, including Dr Aladdin D. Rillo, Deputy Secretary-General for the Asean Economic Community (AEC), the evening’s Guest of Honour. Dr Rillo delivered an inspiring message from the AEC.

Hari V. Krishnan, CEO, PropertyGuru Group, said, “Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards. We are honoured to align with the region’s best and most innovative developers from Sri Lanka to Australia. They have made their teams and countries proud by producing iconic developments and improving the experiences of consumers.”

Terry Blackburn, founder and managing director of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, said in his opening remarks, “Asia has the fastest growing economies today and is home to some of the most exciting real estate markets in the world. Hopefully the years the Asia Property Awards have spent promoting sustainable development, green buildings and corporate social responsibility, have in some small way, contributed to the conversation on what the best Asia should look like in the future.”

The 2018 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final was supported by platinum sponsor Kohler; official airline THAI Airways; co-sponsors Suumo, AA Corporation, Chec Port City Colombo, and Hitachi Elevator; official portal partner PropertyGuru; associate partner Anjuke.com; media partners Southeast Asia Globe, Top 10 of Asia, and PropertyGuru Property Report; supporting associations The Business Council of Mongolia and British Chamber of Commerce Thailand; and official supervisor BDO, one of the world’s largest auditing and accountancy firms.